Tissue attachment devices can be used in several different applications, including wound closure and tissue anchoring, among other things. Wound closure devices and methods typically include sutures, staples, surgical tapes, and tissue adhesives. The most prevalent wound closure methods are the use of needles and sutures. Sutures provide high tensile strength, a low incidence of reopening, and can provide minimal cosmetic scarring. However, application of sutures is by far the slowest method of obtaining wound closure, the sutures typically require removal and the use of anesthetic, and they have the highest tissue reactivity and application cost.
In addition, many known wound closure techniques, such as sutures and staples, have a common drawback in that such devices only hold the tissue together at certain points, which does not take advantage of the entire tissue surface area to create a strong bond. This can lead to such problems as leakage and/or prevalent scarring. Tissue adhesives and sealants use a larger surface area in the act of binding two surfaces of a wound together, however, many do not work in a wet environment and provide only limited tensile strength.
Many tissue anchoring devices have the same drawbacks as wound closure devices. For example, typically sutures are used to anchor devices to tissue. However, suturing to the tissue itself can cause tissue reactivity or tissue tearing if the sutures are subject to a high tensile load.
As such, there is a need for additional tissue attachment devices.